Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War

Page 305

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ZPU-1,2,4 Antiaircraft Machine Guns–ZSU-57/2 SPAAG Self-propelled Antiaircraft Gun

ZPU-1, ZPU-2, ZPU-4 Antiaircraft Machine Guns

Essentially a 14.5 mm Vladimirov KPV machine gun anchored to a multi-legged carriage, these antiaircraft machine guns were part of Iraq’s ground defense force, but their effectiveness, considering that few allied aircraft were shot down, is considered inconclusive.

The ZPU series of AA machine guns originated with the [PU-1, built just after World War II; the ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 models entered service together in 1949. All are two-wheeled, except for the ZPU-4, which has four wheels that lay flat on the ground to support the gun’s weight. Weights for the vehicles range from 413 kg (911 pounds) for the ZPU-1 to 1,810 kg (3,990 pounds) for the ZPU-4. Outfitted with a crew of five (except the ZPU-1, which has a crew of four), this AA gun has a maximum range of 8,000 meters (26,247 feet, or 5 miles). The ZPU-4, the most modern of the guns, can fire as many as 4,800 rounds at one time.

References:

Dupuy, Trevor N., et al., How to Defeat Saddam Hussein: Scenarios and Strategies for the Gulf War (New York: Warner Books, 1991), 168–169;

Cullen, Tony, and Christopher F. Foss, eds., Jane’s Land-Based Air Defence, 1989–90, (Coulsdon, Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group, 1989), 213–215.

ZSU-23/4 Shilka Self-propelled Antiaircraft Gun

Built by the Soviet Union, the ZSU-23/4 was a staple of the Iraqi air defense. With a crew of four, the ZSU-23/4 gun is a four-barreled 23 mm cannon; it fires bursts of up to 50 rounds. It weighs 41,888 pounds (19,000 kg), and can travel on its chassis at a maximum of 27 mph (43 km/h).

The ZSU-23/4 (Zenitnaia Samokhodnaia Ustanovka, self-propelled antiaircraft mount) is so named because it has four 23 mm guns, hence 23/4. Shilka is Russian for “awl.” In his Bullseye: Iraq, Dan McKinnon writes, “This weapon is a modified tank that is fully tracked, armor plated for protection of the crew, and self-propelled with a turret that can rotate 360 degrees in four to five seconds to easily track incoming bombers. It has a radar dish in the turret that seeks out and locks on aircraft targets at which the four 23 mm guns open fire. Each of the guns pumps out 400 rounds per minute which takes about seven seconds to reach the target. The guns are effective up to 10,000 feet (3,049 m). Accuracy of the fire greatly diminishes when the aircraft fly at speeds greater than 300 knots [350 mph; 560 km/h].”

References:

McKinnon, Dan, Bullseye: Iraq (New York: Berkley, 1987), 145.

ZSU-57/2 SPAAG Self-propelled Antiaircraft Gun

This self-propelled antiaircraft gun was in the Iraqi military store, but its use during the Persian Gulf War remains unknown.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the ZSU series of guns were widely sold to the Soviet Union’s client states, among them Iraq. Both the ZSU-23/4 and the ZSU-57/2, essentially antiaircraft guns mounted on a rotating turret atop a small tank chassis, found their way into Iraq’s military. The ZSU-57/2 (Zenitnaia Samokhodnaia Ustanovka, self-propelled antiaircraft mount or gun) is so named because it has two 57 mm guns, hence 57/2.

In Bullseye: Iraq, Dan McKinnon’s work on the Israeli attack on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear complex, he writes of the ZSU-57/2: “This twin 57 mm [gun] fires about 100 rounds per minute from each barrel with a maximum effective range between 10,000 and 14,000 feet when visually directed. If radar directed, they can accurately hit

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